One of London’s finest hidden gems, Brentham garden estate was laid out in north Ealing during the early years of the
last century. The estate backs onto Pitshanger Park, beside the River Brent – from which it takes its name. The earliest
roads, those with the Woodfield name, were a co-operative creation but their architecture was not so different from speculatively
built terraces that were going up elsewhere around this time. The tenants’ association bought more land in 1905 and
1907 and its leader, Henry Vivian, pushed through more innovative principles of street layout and house design. Architects
Parker and Unwin were brought in to create Britain’s first ‘co-partnership garden suburb’, intended to provide
cottage homes for working people who invested their savings in the scheme and received dividends for keeping their property
in good repair. The Arts and Crafts architecture exhibits a delightful variety of stylistic detail while retaining a thematic
harmony. The community’s focal point is the Brentham Club on Meadvale Road, which organises a wide range of activities.
Unlike many such centres – at least those of such quality – it is not a conversion of some pre-existing gentleman’s
home but was built for the purpose, in 1911. From that year until 1947 the estate had its own railway halt between on the
line between Westbourne Park and Greenford. Brentham’s identity is no longer widely recognised beyond the immediate
neighbourhood: it is often considered part of what estate agents call Pitshanger Village.

Brentham has 680 houses styled in the Arts and Crafts tradition

Postal district W5
Further reading Aileen Reid, Brentham: A History of the Pioneer Garden Suburb 1901-2001, Brentham Heritage Society, 2001